Say Cheese! Badgers

ROSE BOWL: WISCONSIN 21, UCLA 16

A Picture Of Passion

January 2, 1994|BOB VERDI Chicago Tribune

PASADENA, Calif. — Well, look who's the big cheese now.

Four years ago, the Wisconsin football program was like a slice of Swiss, full of holes. Four years later, it's like a Swiss wristwatch, precision based on passion, though not necessarily in that order.

The Badgers might have won Saturday's Rose Bowl 21-16 because they had a better game plan than UCLA. That's an X's and O's thing to be dissected by the film freaks. Live and in color, though, there was no doubt. The Badgers had more emotion, the very characteristic that got Barry Alvarez the head coaching job, on New Year's Day 1994.

If the UCLA Bruins thought they'd catch the perfect wave, they ran into the Red Sea instead. On and off the field. The official attendance for this 80th "Granddaddy of Them All" was 101,237. From noon until dusk, it seemed as though the UCLA section contained the 237. Even the Wisconsin band was louder. Much louder.

All the cheeseheads who schlepped here from the Midwest only to find they didn't have tickets must have done some last-minute shopping. Maybe from the UCLA fans, who got twice the allotment, but apparently opted to sell and head for the beach. At these prices, they can buy a lot of bean sprouts. But the Badgers scratched a 31-year-itch with this effort, their first Rose Bowl victory.

The Badgers and their scarlet-clad masses utterly took over the stadium. In pregame drills, UCLA kicked a football through the uprights and into the stands. The cheeseheads surrounded it, passed the ball up to the top row and tossed the thing over the wall. So much for stage fright by the farmers from two time zones away. Maybe next time, UCLA coach Terry Donahue will learn how to say "Wisconsin."All week, he's been calling them "Wesconsin."

But the Bruins need more than a lesson in spelling and pronunciation. You wonder about Wisconsin's arteries, given the beer and bratwurst diet, but don't worry about their heart. The Badgers had plenty of occasions to cave in, like too many of their Big 10 predecessors, but the Badgers wouldn't lose. They never felt more at home while away, which is why players circled the field after their triumph. Everywhere, there was red, even behind the UCLA bench.

The Bruins were driving at the end, but their last play was quarterback Wayne Cook, plunging up the middle without a timeout to spend. If that's West Coast finesse football, you can have it. He's been too sick all week to hear himself bark signals. Saturday, he heard footsteps. Even J.J. Stokes, UCLA's all-world receiver who was defensed by Badgers a head shorter than he, became annoyed. He snatched 14 balls for 176 yards, but the next big play he breaks against Wisconsin will be his first.

And, please, let's not hear about all the UCLA turnovers. There are forced errors and there are unforced errors, and UCLA posted enough of both to suggest overconfidence. Sure, the Badgers were fortunate on occasion. When you shank a punt and it stalls at the UCLA 10, this is your day in the sun. But luck is also the residue of desire. Donahue, the postseason guru, had five weeks to prepare for Wisconsin. Obviously, it wasn't enough.

Besides, how do you get ready for being booed a few miles from your own campus? For seeing thousands of crazies doing the polka at their seats? No, UCLA didn't beat itself. The Bruins got their surfboards handed to them. They were offside when the Badgers' brilliant Brent Moss tried for a first down on fourth and 1 at the UCLA 9 midway through the third quarter. But the officials saw only the ensuing fight. Mark Montgomery, Wisconsin's starting fullback, and Lee DeRamus, their leading receiver, were ejected. Better teams than the Badgers have fainted, but these Badgers didn't.

Just when you fear all the fun has been drained from sports for the sake of profit, along comes a story like this. Did the game team win the game? Can you say cheese?